50 Idioms with Their Meanings in English

50 Idioms with Their Meanings in English! An idiom is a phrase that has a meaning which is not the same as the meaning of each individual word in it. For example, if you say someone “is pulling your leg,” they are not actually grabbing hold of your limb and tugging on it. Instead, they are tricking you or joking with you. Many idioms are based on everyday activities like cooking or building. Here are some examples of common English idioms and their meanings:

Table of Contents

50 Idioms with Their Meanings in English

Sr.	Idioms	Meanings
1	A blessing in disguise	Something good that initially seemed bad
2	Add insult to injury	To make a bad situation worse
3	Barking up the wrong tree	Looking in the wrong place for something or someone
4	Beat around the bush	To avoid speaking directly about something
5	Bite off more than you can chew	To try to do more than you can handle
6	Blow off steam	To release anger or frustration by doing something harmless
7	Break a leg	Good luck (usually said to performers before they go on stage)
8	Cut corners	To do something in a less than perfect way in order to save time or money
9	Don’t count your chickens before they hatch	Don’t make plans based on something that might not happen
10	Easy does it	Be careful and take your time (usually said to someone who is doing something dangerous or difficult)
11	From the horse’s mouth	Directly from the person who knows, or directly from the source
12	Get cold feet	To suddenly feel too scared or nervous to do something
13	Get the ball rolling	To start something
14	Give 110%	To give as much effort as possible
15	Go on a wild goose chase	To waste time looking for something that does not exist
16	Hit the nail on the head	To do or say something exactly right
17	Hold your horses	To wait or to stop talking or moving
18	I’m all ears	I am ready to listen
19	In a pickle	In a difficult situation
20	In over your head	To be in a situation that is too difficult for you
21	It takes two to tango	A situation requires both people to be involved
22	Kill two birds with one stone	To accomplish two things with one action
23	Let the cat out of the bag	To accidentally reveal a secret
24	Let the cat out of the bag	To accidentally reveal a secret
25	Make a mountain out of a molehill	To make a big deal out of something that is not important
26	Miss the boat	To fail to take an opportunity when it is presented
27	Once in a blue moon	Something that happens very rarely
28	Pull someone’s leg	To joke with someone
29	Rain on someone’s parade	To spoil someone’s plans or fun
30	Read between the lines	To interpret the hidden meaning of something
31	Reap what you sow	You will get back from a situation what you put into it
32	Rub someone the wrong way	To annoy or bother someone
33	See eye to eye	To agree with someone
34	Shoot the breeze	To chat or talk about nothing important
35	Slow and steady wins the race	It is better to make consistent progress than to start off fast and then slow down
36	SOS	A call for help
37	Stick to your guns	To stand up for what you believe in, even when others are against you
38	Take it with a grain of salt	To not believe something 100%, or to not take something too seriously
39	That’ll be the day!	I will never believe that! (said in response to something that is very unlikely to happen)
40	The apple of my eye	Someone or something that you love very much and are very proud of
41	The best of both worlds	To have the advantages of two different things
42	The proof is in the pudding	You cannot judge something until you see it in action or until it is finished
43	There’s more than one way to skin a cat	There is more than one way to do something
44	Throw in the towel	To give up or quit
45	Under the weather	Not feeling well
46	Wait for the other shoe to drop	To wait for something bad to happen, even though you do not know when it will happen
47	Wear your heart on your sleeve	To show your emotions openly
48	Wet behind the ears	To be inexperienced
49	When pigs fly	Something that will never happen
50	Wishy-washy	Someone who cannot make up their mind, or who changes their mind all the time